Style Inspiration: How To Look Badass

Let’s set the tone…

What makes a man badass? It’s not his outfit, it’s not the music he listens to, nor is it the amount of muscle he’s packing, being able to hit a fellow man in the face is not a sign of being a badass either and its definitely not the amount of women he’s sleeping with.

Heck, probably the first sign of badassery is not thinking about yourself as being “badass” – that’s for wannabes. A truly badass man doesn’t care if he’s badass, he just is.

Then why the hell am I doing a Style Inspiration called How To Look Badass?

Well, mostly for SEO.

Just kidding (no, I’m not.)

Look, there’s nothing magical about being badass. It’s actually quite simple in its essence – be content with who you are at your core and be willing to do what needs to be done. Know your strengths and accept your weaknesses. Try to do better every day. That is all.

Each and every one of us has it in us, question is – are we willing to dig deep enough to get to it.

Recreating an outfit from this Style Inspiration will not make you a badass guy, it will make others think that you look badass, you will even feel more badass when you go out but only when you start acting like one, will you truly be on the right path.

How To Look Badass

It’s really difficult to pin down what makes an outfit look truly badass. I’d say the only consistent thing about all of them is that they unapologetically go for what they want to be. They are not censored, toned down or classed up to fit someone else’s norms or standards. They go over-the-top if that’s what is needed. They just are what they are.

I guess that’s the part that makes them so damn impressive. Some of them are loud and flashy, other are simple and down to earth. Some of them are elegant and others – rugged.

So instead of trying to backwards rationalize, let me show you.

But before we begin, few things that makes this Style Inspiration different from others.

As being a badass is a state of mind, I’d like to invite you to immerse yourself in the experience as you’re reading through. Every inspiration is accompanied by a soundtrack and a short intro that I feel best expresses what it means to embody each image.

Don’t just go straight to explanations and item details, take your time to enjoy the feeling, the sensations that overcome you while imagining what it would feel like being in those shoes (no pun intended.)

One more thing we’ll change for this particular style inspiration is that I won’t tell you what physique you should have for a particular outfit or venues and occasions where I feel a particular outfit would be appropriate. I don’t know, me telling you what you can or can’t do just doesn’t go well with what we’re going for here.

Instead, if you’re curious about a particular outfit, feel free to ask about it in the comments below and I’ll be more than glad to share my opinion and recommendations.

The Fighter

He’s not your typical aggressive, “in your face” dude looking for a fight and yet, if a fight were to broke out you really hope he’s on your side. He’s a man among boys.

The fighter is not your flashy, life of a party guy and his style clearly shows that. Yet, he knows his masculinity is magnetizing and women can’t help but hover around him while he silently sits there and sips his beer. When the moment comes, he will take her by the hand, gently but firmly pull her in and tell her “you’ll be going home with me tonight.”

With this outfit we’re really trying to tap into that raw, rugged masculinity. This outfit will barely stand out but when noticed it will do wonders. The execution even though subtle checks all the right places to make you attractive. Note how we’re using black long-sleeved shirt (sorry about the awkward cropping there) and dark brown jacket. Not something you’d normally want to wear but we’re making an exception to maintain the aura of casual ruggedness and no-fucks-given.

Leather jacket – key item in this look. We’re looking for a rugged design (can have a washed effect) in dark brown. Details like pockets are optional and don’t hurt this particular look.

Jeans – simple, slim cut blue jeans with a washed effect and minor damage. Skinny cuts have their place but this is not one of them, they are too feminine for this outfit. Heck, if you’re a really big guy you can even resort to regular cut.

Shirt – we’re wearing scoop neck, black long-sleeved shirt. Ideally you want to pack some muscle to rock this outfit and this will be one of the few pieces that actually sexualize our outfit. If you need high contrast you could go with white shirt, just avoid any prints. Henleys is an okay alternative too.

Boots – dark brown, rugged to match with the jacket. Hard to go wrong here as you can either go with work boots, military boots or combat boots – all will work and should depend on your overall physique and proportions.

Watch – this outfit is meant to be down to earth, practical and even though I’m not a big fan of watches it is a good look to pick one. Just don’t get extravagant with it, we’re looking for a stainless steel, no bs design.

Belt – another dark brown, rugged piece to complete the look. Unless you’re of shorter stature, it’s best to stick with wider belts.

Bracelet – slim, slick bracelet in brown and steel. This is the item that connect our brown and metal details. Worn on the same hand as the watch.

Ring – simple, a little worn out ring (because it will do more damage when punching). Worn on the other hand than bracelet and watch.

Necklace – last piece in our look, a silver (or stainless steel) necklace, medium length. Dog tags in general would suit this look but you might actually look too military so be careful with that. Avoid fangs, tooth necklaces, etc.

The Rocker

Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll – and that’s just for breakfast. Rocker lives his life to its fullest and consequences be damned! His presence and ability to live in the moment would make even a Zen Buddhists jealous. Nothing is too outrageous for him and his look is anything but casual. But it’s his charisma and raw, unapologetic sexuality that gets women to scream his name.

You need to have balls to pull off this look but if you do, there’s no chance those same balls are not being sucked off by the end of the night, probably in the bar’s or club’s bathroom. As you can see, every single item in this look is flashy and attention grabbing on its own, but when mixed together we have a case of “when everything draws attention, nothing does” and this outfit becomes something the spectator has to take in as a whole instead of a collection of separate parts.

Leather jacket – red leather jacket is the centerpiece of this look. Ideally you want it biker but other designs can work too, just make sure the fit is spot on and its cut close to the body.

Boots – we’re going with a badass pair of black Chelsea boots. As we’ll be wearing them with black skinny jeans clean design becomes a less than optimal option. Straps on this particular pair will work as the part the visually separates boots form the jeans.

Tee – white plain tee in deep scoop neck. Yes, deep. This outfit could be described as uncensored clothes porn and we’re going all in.

Jeans – damaged black skinny jeans. As mentioned in the intro we really want every item in this look to be over-the-top to make it work as a whole. Wash is optional.

Necklace – we’re looking for a necklace with long chain either in metal, leather or, like this in this example, small beads. As long as you avoid cliché pendants and color brown you can’t mess this up.

Rope bracelet – we should wear white leather bracelet on the same hand as the black leather one but instead of wearing them separately, turn rope bracelet around the black one so they are intertwined (it will take some experimentation to get the hang of this.)

The Villain

There’s nothing wrong with being a good guy, but being bad is just so much better and Villain is very, very good at being bad. Dark, sophisticated and mysterious, if you think you have him figured out you’re in trouble. While the good guys are celebrating with cake and diet coke, Villain has his mistresses in leather and bondages. Ah, it feels good to be bad…

This one goes to all of you evil masterminds, who keep asking me about how to wear more black. The outfit, as the persona suggests, is all about elegance and mystery without losing that wickedness in your eyes. The success of whether it will look meh or wow will depend on how you will manage the shades of black (quick tip: can’t go wrong with stark black). Effortless and simple this look is also very dominant and intense. Note that we will not be wearing belt with it.

Coat – black coat, medium length. Cut as close to the body as possible.

Shirt – dress shirt in plain color. You have three options here: blue, red, purple, all in darker shades and all can work great.

Shoes – brogue shoes in black. Even though this is meant to be a clean look, we don’t want to go overboard and have no patterns in our look at all. Picking brogue shoes over a pair of “clean” dress shoes not only gives us that but also works to visually separate shoes from trousers.

Watch – I was tempted to leave scarf as the only accessory in this outfit but finally decided against it. A classical watch with a black leather strap will do wonders to keep this outfit looking interesting.

The Artist

He put a glass of whiskey on the table, cigarette burning in his hand. With his pen, with his hands he creates history as he explores the deepest corners of what it means to be a human being. Hemingway has nothing on him! His outfit is a piece of art that plays hers emotions like an instrument. And when he hits the right chord, he will captivate her soul forever.

I took this opportunity to answer another popular question I’m getting – how to I pull off multiple accessories like the iconic Johnny Depp’s look. On a whole this outfit walks that thin line between wanting to create something beautiful and the dark cynicism that comes from knowing too much. It’s the inner struggle between understanding your own insignificance and burning passion in your heart that will not let you quit. Facial hair highly preferred.

Shirt – casual shirt in a light pattern. Preferably something blue-ish with grey tones. Worn with sleeves rolled up and tucked into jeans.

Vest – grey, classical vest. For this particular look I’d avoid deep cuts as there are already plenty of pieces that will make the outfit stand out.

Jeans – slim cut blue jeans with slight wash. Distressing is optional. You could also get away with a non-washed option.

Shoes – chukka boots in dark brown, slightly rugged. As you noticed with this look we’re somewhere between elegant and rugged without lingering into either side of the spectrum. Chukka boots in turn is an ideal option to stay there.

Bead bracelet – black bead bracelet. Worn on the same hand as rope bracelet and brown leather bracelet. Avoid very flashy designs for any single piece as there will be plenty of action on your wrists without flashiness. Use rope bracelet to intertwine all three accessories.

Wristband – thicker wristband in brown. Worn on the other hand, together with a ring. Both items should look rugged, worn.

Scarf – with the scarf we’ll be introducing another color to the look – burgundy. As said, this look doesn’t want to pinned down to any one stereotype and in a sense it should look a bit indecisive as to what it wants to convey. Scarf in itself is a great way to add a bit more mystery to the outfit.